ST. JOHN’S WOOD MEMORIESNonie Hedges

A memory for me is going to a school dance in the Ambassador Hall. I was in third form (1963) and the school captain asked me to dance. He was tall and so was I. I had a pink floral, polyester pleated dress on. I also remember going to Mrs. Hinton’s shop to buy lollies and asking her to put the cost in the book. The Hinton’s lived next door to us so we were “on the in”! I also remember being in St. John’s Avenue and seeing Peter Hodgson, who lived in St. John’s Avenue in the distance walking towards me – he ended up as my husband of 32 years. I still have that image in my mind. Further, on the corner of Waterworks Road and the bridge, Peter defended my honour and got into a fight with another one of our friends, who was making fun of me.As well as my husband, my strongest connection with St. John’s Wood has been and still is my best childhood friend, Sandra Bayley. Above and beyond living in each other’s pockets 7 days a week, I would make a short two ring call from across the creek (at my house on Waterworks Road) to her house in Grand Parade to alert her to a good tune on the radio, while we were doing our homework. We were “chicken scamps” too – making anonymous phone calls from the public phone booth at the corner of Piddington and Gresham Streets, calling down the phone…”Wigwam for a goose’s bridle”.

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